Faculty of Engineering & Applied Science concrete tech.

/Practical
civil departments 2014-2015
Concrete Lab. 2nd year
__________________________________________________________________________________
TEST# 2 standard test method for

Time of Setting of Hydraulic Cement by Vicat Needle

2-1 References:
1. ASTM C191-04
2. ASTM C305-99
2-2 Purpose:
This test method provides a means of determining compliance with a specification limit
for Vicat time of setting.
2-3 Materials:
1. Potable water.
2. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC).
2-4 Equipment:
1. Sensitive balance,
2. Graduate cylinder,
3. Vicat apparatus (with a plunger of 300gm as a total weight and a needle of 1 mm
dia.),
4. Vicat mold,
5. Mechanical Mixer,
6. Trowel,
7. Glass plate, and
8. Hand covers (plastic gloves).

2-5 Procedures:
1. Prepare a new batch of paste by mixing 650 g of cement with the percentage of
mixing water required for normal consistency (from results of test#1).
2. Mixing is done using a mechanical mixer, and the procedure described in ASTM
C305 are followed as follows:
3. Place the dry paddle and the dry bowl in the mixing position in the mixer. Then
introduce the materials for a batch into the bowl and mix in the following manner:
a. Place all the mixing water in the bowl.
b. Add the cement to the water and allow 30 seconds for the absorption of the
water.
c. Start the mixer and mix at slow speed for 30 seconds.
d. Stop the mixer for 15 seconds and during this time scrape down into the batch
any paste that may have collected on the side of the bowl.
e. Start the mixer at medium speed and mix for 60 seconds.
Faculty of Engineering & Applied Science concrete tech. /Practical
civil departments 2014-2015
Concrete Lab. 2nd year
__________________________________________________________________________________
4. At the completion of the mixing cycle, the paste shall be removed from the bowl and
pressed into the large end of the Vicat mold. The excess paste at the large end shall be
struck off with trowel, then place the large end down on a glass plate.
5. The excess paste at the small end shall be struck off with a single stroke of the trowel.
During these operations of cutting and smoothing, take care not to compress the paste.
6. Immediately after molding, place the test specimen in the moist closet or moist room
and allow it to remain there except when penetration measurements are being made.
7. Allow the time of setting specimen to remain in the moist cabinet for 30 minutes after
molding without being disturbed.
8. Determine the penetration of the 1-mm needle at this time and every 15 minutes
thereafter (every 10 minutes for Type III cements) until a penetration of (34-36) mm
or less is obtained.
9. Perform the penetration test by lowering the needle, of the rod until it rests on the
surface of the cement paste. Tighten the set screw, and set the indicator at the upper
end of the scale, or take an initial reading. Release the rod quickly by releasing the set
screw and allow the needle to settle for 30 seconds; then take the reading to determine
the penetration.
10. Make each penetration test at least 5 mm away from any previous penetration and at
least 10 mm away from the inner side of the mold.
11. Record the results of all penetration tests and, by interpolation, determine the time
when a penetration of 35 mm is obtained. The elapsed time between the initial contact
of cement and water and the penetration of (34-36) mm is the Vicat time of setting or
Vicat initial time of setting.
12. Determine the Vicat final time of setting end point to be the first penetration measure
that does not mark the specimen surface with a complete circular impression. Verify
final set by performing two additional penetration measurements on different areas of
the specimen surface. Obtain verification measurements within 90 s of the first “final
set” measurement. The elapsed time between the initial contact of cement and water
and the end point determination above is the Vicat final time of setting.
13. An alternative method can be used to determine the final setting time using the
empirical equation and as follows:
Final setting time = 1.2 × (initial setting time) + 90
Where both initial and final setting times are in minutes.
Faculty of Engineering & Applied Science concrete tech. /Practical
civil departments 2014-2015
Concrete Lab. 2nd year
__________________________________________________________________________________

2-6 Notes and Specification:

The following table shows the setting times allowed by different standard in different
countries:

Specification Minimum initial setting time Maximum final setting time

(minutes) (hours)
Iraqi 60 10
B.S 50 10
ASTM 45 8

All the apparatus shall be free from vibration during the penetration test. Take care to
keep the 1 mm needle straight and also clean as the collection of cement on the sides of
needle may retard the penetration.
The temperature of the dry cement, mold, and base plates shall be maintain at 23±3 0C
Maintain the temperature of the mixing water at 23.0 ± 3.0°C. The relative humidity of the
mixing room shall not be less than 50 percent.

2-7 Questions:
1. What does it mean by initial setting time, final setting time?
2. State the differences between the false, flash, initial, and final setting times?
3. What is the importance from determining the setting times for specific cement before
using it?
4. How does the fineness of cement affect the setting time?
5. State the main difference between the setting and hardening of cement?
6. Explain how temperature and relative humidity affect the test results?
Faculty of Engineering & Applied Science concrete tech. /Practical
civil departments 2014-2015
Concrete Lab. 2nd year
__________________________________________________________________________________
Test#3 Standard test method for

Soundness of Hydraulic Cement Paste

1-1 References:
1. BS EN 196 - 3 : 2005
2. ASTM C 151 -05
It is essential that the cement paste, once it has set, does not undergo a large change in
volume. One restriction is that there must be no appreciable expansion, which under
conditions of restraint could result in disruption of the hardened cement paste. Such
expansion may occur due to reactions of free lime, magnesia and calcium sulfate, and
cements exhibiting this type of expansion are classified as unsound.

1-2 Purpose:
The expansion test provides an index of potential delayed expansion caused by the hydration
of CaO, or MgO, or both, when present in hydraulic cement.

1-3 Materials:

1. Potable water.
2. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC).
1-4 Equipment:

1. Scoop,
2. Sensitive balance,
3. Container,
4. Water bath,
5. Le-Chatelier apparatus, consists of small split cylinder of spring brass of 0.5m
thickness, forming a mold 30mm internal diameter and 30 mm height, and its sides
are attached two indicators with pointed ends, the distance between these two ends to
the center if the cylinder being 165mm.

1-5 Procedures:
A. Le Chatelier's accelerated test is prescribed by BS E N 1 96 - 3 : 1 995 for detecting
unsoundness due to free lime only.

1. Place the mold on a glass sheet and fill it with the cement paste formed by
gauging cement with the water required to give a paste of standard consistency.
2. Cover the mold with another piece of glass sheet, place a small weight on this
covering glass sheet and immediately submerge the whole assembly in water at a
temperature of 20 ± 2 oC and keep it there for 24hrs.
Faculty of Engineering & Applied Science concrete tech. /Practical
civil departments 2014-2015
Concrete Lab. 2nd year
__________________________________________________________________________________
3. Measure the distance separating the indicator points to the nearest 0.5mm (say
d1).
4. Submerge the mold again in water at the temperature prescribed above. Bring the
water to boiling point in 25 to 30 minutes and keep it boiling for 3hrs.
5. Remove the mold from the water, allow it to cool and measure the distance
between the indicator points (say d2).
6. (d1-d2) represents the expansion of cement.
7. The maximum expansion allowed by specification is 10 mm.

B. ASTM C 151-05 autoclave test is sensitive to both free magnesia and free lime:

A neat cement paste specimen of known length is cured in humid air for 24 hours and
then heated by high pressure steam (2 MPa (295 psi)) for about 1 hour so that a temperature
of 216oC (420 °F) is attained. After maintaining that temperature and pressure for a further 3
hours, the autoclave is cooled so that the pressure falls within 1.5 hours and the specimen is
cooled in water to 23oC (73 °F) in 1 5 min. After a further 1 5 min, the length of the specimen
is measured: the expansion due to autoclaving must not exceed 0.8 per cent of the original
length. This accelerated test gives no more than a broad indication of the risk of long-term
expansion in practice.